1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to roller grinder drive systems and more particularly pertains to a new dual motor drive system for a roller grinder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of roller grinder drive systems is known in the prior art. More specifically, roller grinder drive systems heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art roller grinder drive systems include U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,668; U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,645; U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,029; U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,739; U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,390; U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,958; U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,245; U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,490; U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,819; U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,128; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 287,017.
Prior art roller grinders often suffer from frequent breakdowns in their drive systems. In particular, these prior art roller grinders experience stretch and breaking of the double sided V-belts, idler bearing failure, roll bearing failure, and roll shaft breakage. One reason for these breakdowns include extreme V-belt tension required to reduce belt slippage. As production demands on roller grinders increase, roller grinders must be run longer and harder. The extreme belt tension required for these demands places added strain on all parts of the drive system of the roller grinder. Eventually, the weakest parts of the drive system fail due to the increased strain placed on them. In particular, V-belt drives slip, stretch, and often break. Idler pulleys can go out of alignment and cause belt failure. Idler pulleys also have bearings which can also fail.
A roller grinder typically has top and bottom sets of rollers. The rollers in each set of rollers of a roller grinder need to be rotated in opposite directions in order to grind grain passing between the rollers of that set of rollers. Additionally, the rollers of the set need to be rotated at different speeds in order to effectuate grinding, rather than cracking, of feed passed between the rollers. Therefore, in prior art roller grinders double sided V-belt systems are used to achieve rotation of the rollers in different directions. However, V-belts are designed for high speed rotation because low speed rotation with V-belts causes slippage of the V-belts. As a result of the slippage, the V-belts suffer from increased wear and damage leading to breakdowns in the drive system of the roller grinders. Also because of the need to use V-belts, the shafts of the rollers must be made longer to load the V-belts thereon. As a result, the shafts of the rollers can break from overhung V-belt loading.